What we're missing

Hi again-

Today marks the end of Week 2 in Cairo. It also is a very special day in Joe’s family. Joe’s youngest brother Mike and his wife Andrea are having a baby today in Denver. This is a huge day for them and we wish more than anything that we could share it with them. In reality, if we lived in the States, we would likely be in NC teaching summer school and planning for a later visit to see the newborn. We wouldn’t likely “be there” at the hospital but the fact that we virtually cannot (versus would not) be there is a real bummer. Still, we got a good long visit with them a month back and hope we can make it through until we can get back to the states. A new baby in the family, a new niece or nephew, a new cousin....wow!

Back in the desert, we are trying to stay upbeat. We are still getting hilarious cultural experiences daily...

Aedan fell on Saturday night and I was afraid that he might have broken his arm. It turns out he was ok but a bit sore yesterday so he and I had a "pj day" wherein we planned to eat junk food and watch movies all day. Joe and Virginia, antsy to get out, had just left for a "short" walk around the block. Not 10 minutes after they left, 7 guys with dirty suitcases rang the bell saying that they were here to "feex for American". Naturally, I didn't let them in at first but they were insistent and it turns out that they were in fact from the university. Joe filled out some form a while back about some necessary repairs to the "flat" (our apt). The dirty suitcases were filled with equally filthy (and rusty) tools wherein they did fix stuff albeit not stuff that I would have had them fix given that I hadn't showered or dressed. Note that I am still in my pjs...and let's just say that while they do the trick, they aren't exactly "conservative" in the Middle Eastern sense of the word (they show my elbows for goodness sake).
Doorbell rings again....another 5 men from the university to install 3 new phone lines (Joe requested this but they were supposed to call to schedule). How many Egyptians does it take to install a phone line? Well, 1 and 4 to smoke outside :) Still, they came and the phone line is installed (and 2 of the 3 they put in actually work!) . I've heard this is good odds.
Doorbell rings again...our taxicab driver with "your new maid". Whaaaaaat? My new what? Again, I think Joe mentioned that we might get one and Mustafa took that to mean "go get me one" I guess. I know I read somewhere that Egyptians are offended if you do business without tea and cake but I was totally unprepared. I don't even own a tea pot. So I rustled up some tea and stuck it in a glass pitcher and "our new maid" screamed with laughter and said "I have much work here". Yes, indeed. Meanwhile, Aedan (doped up on tylenol) is running around the house yelling in parceltongue/snake language (like Harry Potter). It is quite possible that we scared the maid off. I have never seen anyone gulp down tea that fast!

After an unbelievable effort at telepathy, Joe returns from his "short" 3 hour walk with fresh flowers and a new vacuum cleaner (the way to my heart). Phone rings....someone talking loudly in Arabic. Joe asks if they are EgNet (DSL provider) and they say "I don't speak French" and hang up! This is all before noon yesterday....the day only gets more bizarre. It is like a choose your own adventure book..."If you choose to hire the maid and send her out to buy a teapot, go to page 6", "if you start screaming 'what are you doing here? I didn't call you and I am still in my pjs for goodness sakes!'" turn to page 12". I have the sneaking suspicion that all pages lead to the same conclusion...we'll manage....maybe even thrive. :)

As for the cat, well, poor Steiney is still adjusting to both Egypt and Virginia's newfound attention to her post-Bronco. To her credit, Steinem is mellowing but has discovered a few hiding places when she tires of being dressed up and pushed around in the stroller. See picture on left.

Lots of love and everyone be sending good thoughts to Mike and Drea.
-Ash

Aedan's School (Cairo American College)

Here are some pictures of Aedan's "campus"...
CAC serves students pre-k-12th grade international baccalaureate. These pictures show some of the 5 kindergarten classrooms beside the kindergarten playground and the soccer fields.

End of Week 2 in Cairo

Beginning of Wk 2-we have survived!

Ever wonder what happens to your old beater cars that you trade in for $500? They end up as Egyptian taxis!

Funny (and true Egyptian story): Our shipment of clothes, etc isn’t coming for at least another couple of months. My bathing suit suddenly lost elastic. There is nothing to do in 110 degree heat but swim. After shopping in no less than 3 malls, I can’t find a SINGLE women’s bathing suit anywhere. I learn the word in Arabic and get laughed out of the shops. Women don’t swim! Anyway, I finally wander into a shop with paper over the windows named “SKIN!” (you know I had to check it out, right?) and to my amazement find one among the other taboo objects (sandals, granny panties, nail polish, etc)! It is “Teaser” brand (made in China) and stretches from mid-bicep to just above the knee (like a unitard only no calf). I paid the equivalent of $70 for it so I would have something to wear when I’m in the American pool (women welcome) with my 3 year old. Joe endures jokes from the sales clerk about his seducing wife (in her unitard).

All joking aside, lots of you have asked, “what’s life like in Egypt?” Well, for us, it has been totally opposite from our life in Egypt. Since we are nerds at heart, here’s a summary in table form:

Cairo vs. Raleigh

• Really urban vs. suburban
• Dirty, diesel taxis, often with smoking drivers with an axe to grind against infamous Cairo traffic. Seatbelts and air-conditioning optional. Car seat? Laughable vs Nice cars that have likely been serviced in the last 5 years.
• Very hot vs. Hot
• Long clothes the norm-“what else can I cover up and get away with it” vs. Short clothes the norm-“how short can I go”
• Helpful people motivated by their love for Allah vs. Occasionally polite people motivated by sense of cosmic retribution…or nice people on a good day....depends :)
  
• “Friends” are made in a period of hours vs. Friends are lifetime luxuries
• Most people pray 5 times a day and all day on Friday vs. Most people pray every second of the day “please don’t let me yell at the these kids…please don’t let me be rude to my nosy neighbor…please don’t let me flip off the driver who cut me off”….
• You eat… what you get…don’t ask what it is…you brought antibiotics from the States, right? vs. Lots and lots of options at the grocery store and Target, etc
• Walk everywhere (see taxis above) vs. On a good day, walk several rows back to your parked car
• Whole city is a museum….we were driving and saw someone actually living atop a REAL Roman Aquaduct. vs. Museums can be visited in a weekend
• We miss our family and friends vs. We’re too busy to call our family and friends back 

So these are just a few things….
Since I last wrote, we went on a sailboat ride down the Nile and got some awesome pictures. As soon as we get something faster than dial-up (next week “en challah”), we’ll post them.

More then….
Lots of love…
The S-Rs

End of Week 1!

Hi all-

Today marks one week in Cairo and what a week it has been. Already we have made a few friends, sort of learned our way around (well, not really) and joined a couple of local clubs.

Since I last wrote, the kids and I joined the CSA (Community Services Association) which gives us privileges to basically borrow English-language books and DVDs, sign Virginia up for ballet class, and just generally hang out at the coffee shop (with wifi!). We also bit the bullet and got a 2 month membership to the Maadi House which we are really liking. Aedan is working towards passing his swim test (25 m swim followed by 1 minute treading water in the deep end followed by an 8 ft dive to retrieve a penny from the bottom). Virginia can now swim half a lap unassisted. We have found someone who will give them swim lessons but Aedan seems not to need them now (following his friends around has improved his swimming markedly) and Virginia probably needs a little more time to adjust to her surroundings. There are a lot of very well educated expat spouses here that are bored (must not have young kids!) and give lessons in almost anything for almost nothing. It is great! For example, the swim teacher is a pediatrician whose wife is head of the USAID office here. He can’t technically practice medicine in Egypt so is giving swim lessons (he was a member of the US National team apparently) here. Pretty cool, huh?

We’ve begun to understand some of the local customs. For example, we know what the heck that guy hanging around the door of our apt building does. He is called a Boab and in exchange for free housing for his family, he guards the entrance to our building, picks up our trash to give to the Coptics to sort and sell, and runs errands for us. Egyptians treat him (and all Boabs) terribly yelling at him to fetch this and fetch that. The thinking that is that he was born into a lower caste-like and therefore he is there to serve them. With relief, I have noticed that even the Americans here who have “gone native” do not treat people this way. Pretty crazy.

We are starting to get used to the traffic and that cars (not pedestrians) have the right of way. We had a close call with Aedan who was a little far away from us. I shrieked bloody murder and the cab did swerve away from him. Ugh! Ever since then, Aedan stays close and our guardian angel is taking a well-deserved rest.

We are starting to learn the littlest bit of Arabic. I know the numbers and the names of a few things we need. Joe knows another few. I plan to kick it into gear in the next few days. Honestly, I have to get better at Arabic. Even the people that speak English well can hardly speak English. Cultural concepts are hard too…like when you tell a waiter “can you please bring my check…no rush”, he doesn’t understand “no rush”. He will literally run to serve you. Anyway, a couple more phrases would go a long way although I have to say that Aedan still leads the family in sensing the right thing to do and then telling us what to do (like “mom give him a tip” or “mom, the taxi driver wants us to show them on a map where we want to go”

I am also starting to get exactly what I should pay for stuff….everywhere it is “as you wish”. So like I go to buy a coke at the stand in front of my house and I ask the price (unmarked) and he says “as you wish”. I mean, I have no idea how much a coke costs here. It turns out…about 1LE (18cents) which is great because it is cold and in the glass bottle and you get to drink it with a bunch of people laughing and have a great time (even though you have no idea what they are talking about). Still, the whole pricing thing can be frustrating because there are certainly expectations and those seem to vary from vendor to vendor. Who (in the family) should negotiate also varies from vendor to vendor. Some vendors will not deal with a woman whatsoever unless I am alone with the kids (no choice for them). Some vendors give me a much better price than Joe. Sometimes it is better to say that you live here (because they don’t think you are a tourist and won’t rip you off) and sometimes it is better to be a tourist. Unbelievably, most resorts here give you 50% off rates if you are an Egyptian resident (which Joe will be in Sept). You who come to visit will benefit from his steep discount and we plan to do our Egypt travelling with you then! All said, the pricing stuff is confusing but I am making a list of suggestions and things that have worked and haven’t worked. It is good to have a working knowledge so you don’t offend anyone or pay too much.

I made an Egyptian friend a few days ago…we locked ourselves out of our apt (long story) but luckily Jenine was there to help. Cairo is so easy if you know who to call and she knew who to call. Anyway, she took Joe and the kids to Road 9 to get some chicken (fresh kill and roast-thought the kids would puke but Virginia loved it! Maybe she is a farm girl at heart?) and I waited for the locksmith. I was killing some time so I went to get an $0.18 coke and pick up a bit of Arabic (probably “why does this American hang out here all the time?”) and wandered into Hemi’s shop. Hemi is an Egyptian man who studied 4 years at AUC and did 1 year at University of Phoenix (I thought this was online school but he said he was in Phoenix???). He has lots of Virginia (the state, not the girl) memorabilia up in his store which interested me. Anyway, his English was comparatively good and he said that “he give best price” to my family and friends that come to visit. Anyway, we chatted several times and he invited Aedan to play him in chess. He basically hangs out in a store the size of our old living room (big for Cairo) or under the tree drinking an $0.18 coke. Despite being open from 10am past midnight (Cairo hours), he probably has only a few customers a week. This is typical of shopowners. They seem to get bored and are eager to make your acquaintance. They will keep you in there forever with chatting and there is absolutely no pressure to buy. Really. It is hard to believe but it is totally different here. I thought about what’s in it for them….but I think this is a very American concept. On the one hand, if I need tourist stuff, I will buy from Hemi because I am comfortable in his shop and I know his merchandise. On the other hand, I feel like we mutually like each other so even if I am not buying, I am welcome. Tomorrow, Aedan and I are bringing him sweet tea and he is making us Egyptian tea. He told Aedan “I am best in Egypt at tea and chess” so of course, Aedan couldn’t resist the challenge J Just another custom that we are getting used too….this one I actually like. Egyptians LOVE kids. Everywhere I go people just beam at them and want to touch them and hold them. I thought it was because they were American but there are a lot of Americans in Cairo and Egyptians do it with their own kids too. Very cool. Well maybe a bit annoying at the supermarket when the cashier plays peekaboo with Virginia for like 10 minutes while our cab was outside honking but still, very cool.

We went on our first sailboat down the Nile today. It was really awesome and for the price ($3 cab ride round trip and $10 for long boat ride), I feel like I want to go often. We saw the sun set over the Nile and it was remarkable. I’ll let the pictures tell the story….

I am off to watch College Road Trip with Joe which we rented from CSA. Aedan got Justice League and Virginia got Barney’s Christmas…so the usual choices here. J

Tomorrow Virginia and I have a playdate with some friends and Aedan, of course, has his chess game with Hemi.

Love,

Ashley

PS Pictures of Aedan’s school and Nile cruise coming tomorrow!

Making pictures bigger

Hi there-

So you can't actually see who is on the camel and you want proof it was us? Is that it?

Anyway, I know the pictures are small and I am sorry. Probably you can get them bigger somehow but I need to ask around. Blogspot is a free webhost and I know that I am limited on how much I can post. In the meantime, you can right click on a picture and save it to your desk top. From there, you can enlarge the picture using the + and - keys. This isn't the best way but will work.

More substantive post coming soon along with pics of Aedan's school and description of Boab :)

Love,
Ashley

Oh and thanks for your comments

Hi you all-
I just noticed that you can leave us comments too! I read them to the kids and will tell Joe when he comes home today. That is so cool. It makes me feel much less isolated that we can share this with you.

Thanks for logging on and letting us know you are "there".
Hugs and Kisses....
-Ashley

Day 4 Camels and Pyramids

All but Virginia have adapted to Cairo-time but we are still struggling to get her to sleep at night. Truth be told, we were struggling with a bedtime routine before and this is only a tiny bit worse. She is a night owl and a party animal. We haven’t been entirely consistent because she is just so much fun at night and we like having that special time with her. On the flip side, she needs her sleep and it drives us crazy to not have any waking hours to do anything (like pay bills or just talk) without the kids needing something….drink of water, get out the playdough, read a story, etc etc. Anyway, that said, she didn’t get up until her usual 11am so we got a late start for the pyramids.

Aedan, being the expert taxi flagger in the family got a good one….In Egypt, you get to know your taxi drivers. You tip well and they help you with all kinds of things. Omar taught us how to say the name of our street in Arabic (very helpful!) as well as a few other survival phrases. He also negotiated a “friend” price for us at the pyramid tour office. But I am getting ahead of myself….

There are 2 sets of pyramids in the suburbs of Cairo and we decided to go to the smaller set (Giza) because they are closer and have the famous Sphinx which Aedan was really excited to see. We took the Corniche Nil (Nile Road) out of town which is a scenic drive and I almost forgot all of the obligatory honking, especially when I saw the new Starbucks which “God Willing” was actually open. I guess I should have known better to poke fun because although Starbucks is open on the Corniche Nil, chai is not offered in the Egypt market. Whaaaat???? Bottom line: no chai. I came back to the car empty-handed and I thought poor Aedan would burst into tears. When I explained what was going on, he sweetly said “but mom, 22 months is a long time for you to go without chai”. I told him that all of had to adapt a little and gave him some examples of the ways in which he had adapted and how I had to follow his lead and take it in stride like he had (Aedan puffed with pride at this point). However, Aedan gave me a spontaneous hug and said “sorry about the chai mom” He is such a good kid and I don’t give a damn about the chai anymore…..ok well maybe just a little but I will get over it.

So we zoom to Giza which is totally different than Cairo…very rural in a touristy way that you would expect. Virginia delighted in the donkeys carrying pyramid trinkets, etc and lots of kids running about. She was so cute about noticing EVERYTHING. I didn’t know this but only tour busses can get close enough to the pyramids to walk. This seems odd since Egyptians aren’t exactly known for their historic preservation. I suspect it is yet another money-making venture. Omar took us the tour office, introduced us as “friends” to the son of the Giza mayor (who unsurprisingly is the head of the tour office) and went straight for the bar (“Take your time at the pyramids my friends. Omar will be right here”). We were offered a camel or horseback and advised to take the horse but of course, we took the camels. I mean, who wouldn’t? For the record, Virginia wanted the horse because “she is so good at riding at Nana and Larry’s”. However, since Nana and Larry weren’t there to hold her on, we elected camel.

Riding a camel is pretty awesome and a bit scary. Aedan said it was the scariest thing that he has ever done (way double YIKES Mom!). You are high up there and camels are not exactly gentle, sweet-smelling animals. Virginia and Joe shared one camel and Aedan and I the other. When by some unknown reason I was selected as lead camel (of Joe and Virginia) and I apparently didn’t whip the camel hard enough, a boy of about 13 was hired to walk beside us and keep the camel in line. I don’t know how he did it or how we made it. It was like a 3 mile ride ON A SLOOOOW CAMEL. At one point, the camels burst into a run-walk and I swear I almost fainted. I am holding my 5 year old for dear life and (now over his initial fear) he is pointing out that this is EXACTLY like he read in Magic Tree House….I wanted to yell: WHERE IS THE TREEHOUSE? TAKE ME BACK TO FROG CREEK. But I didn’t. At least I think I didn’t.

Fear aside, the view was spectacular. I mean, we really felt like we were in the desert (we were) and it was totally unbelievable. I will never forget going over that hill and then BAM! The pyramids. Even though Giza is a tourist destination, it is pretty much desolate and really felt authentic. We took lots of pictures and the kids scrambled onto the pyramids. They let you climb all over them. We didn’t go inside the pyramids. It was too hot and we were all exhausted. We have been told that it isn’t a good idea for kids to go inside the pyramids because there are still high levels of bacteria from all of the ancient food that was stored there. I think this is probably bunk but I do know that all of the artifacts have been moved to museums and I figured we would be back with some of you so I didn’t push the kids.

There are 9 pyramids in Giza…Father, Son, and Grandson plus some for their extra not-so-good wives. Apparently the most beautiful and smart (which is always the same woman apparently…even in ancient Egypt some gals get all the luck!) wives get to stay with the pharaoh in the tomb. What’s the point, I say? I’d rather have my own pyramid. It was touching that Aedan said that he wanted to build a pyramid for himself, Joe, Rock, and Larry but when our guide told us that the slaves had to work without food or water (150 died each day in the effort) and that they were all killed at the end (their bodies buried, ironically with food and water) in the tombs so as to serve in the next life too, Aedan backed off the whole wanting-his-own-pyramid thing!

The Sphinx was relatively small in comparison to the pyramids and the vast beauty of the desert. They have some sort of crazy James Bond light show there at night which we will have to check out later. The nose was missing but had I not known, I wouldn’t have necessarily noticed the missing nose. For one thing, the Sphinx is covered in birds and for another, unlike the other pyramids, you can’t get close to it without buying an extra ticket. This was near the end of our tour and we barely had the energy to walk to the gate but you can see the pictures. We’ll definitely come back when the weather cools.

We returned into Omar’s safe care after some serious haggling with the tour guide about an appropriate tip (he wasn’t that great and we stuck to our price). In the end, Omar alerted the mayor’s son who yelled at him in Arabic. It worked out fine. We took care of Omar and he took care of us. We paid the hired camel boy and gave him the extra money we had planned to spend trying out the frappachinos….can you imagine pulling 2 camels in the desert for 6 miles several times per day for tourists?

After showers and a long nap, Joe had another allergy attack (Carol was right about the horse/camel hair thing). Thankfully, 1 Claritin seems to have mostly cleared it up. I woke up from the nap early and went to find the “nearest” grocery store”…it was only 3 blocks away but took several tries and 45 minutes to find. I was rewarded with Country Crock (salted, spreadable butter is hard to find here) and fresh skim milk (as opposed to the powdered kind that everyone drinks).

Later, Joe and I took the kids to CAC (Aedan’s school) where the kids ran around, ate animal crackers, and played badminton with a Japanese family. I am so proud of Aedan. He went right up to the probably 3^rd grader and asked if he could play with them. That took real guts and despite the language barrier, they played for almost an hour. Aedan even learned a few Japanese words (gamecock, racquets, etc I am thinking but who knows???). We sat companionably with the Japanese family while the kids played together and I smiled inwardly. This is why we came to Egypt…so we would have moments like this.

Sunday begins the Egyptian workweek and Joe is going into campus for the first time. It is hard to believe that it has been only a week here. I think we are well-settled given that it has only been a short time and Joe is ready to start his own adventure. Now that I can find Aedan’s school/playground and the grocery store somewhat reliably, I am feeling better about being alone with the kids. Of course, at the time of this writing…they haven’t woken up yet J

Best,

Ashley

Day 3-The Egyptian Museum

Hello All-

Happy Holy Day. Here in Egypt, the work week is Sun-Thursday with Friday observed as the Holy Day (kind of like Sundays but there is still lots of commerce). There are churches here that have Sunday services and I wonder how well attended they are…will have to see. There is at least one Catholic and one “community church” within a few blocks of us. The only difference I can see in my neighborhood is that the nightly call to prayer goes on like forever on the loudspeaker. It is like the whole service is booming into the apartment. Kind of neat. Friday is also garbage pickup day for our building and our Boaab (kind of like a doorman/maintenance man/security detail) went round and knocked on the door requesting our trash. It isn’t like Raleigh where we generated uncharitable amounts. Until I know where I can get something, I am not throwing out a single carton. I might need that for Arabic translation or something…..

Day 3 was a busy one …. We all made it up before 11 today (woohoo) and I think we are probably well on our way to jetlag recovery. The day started slow and a tiny bit sad. I think Aedan is a little homesick. He asked to write to Franklin. Here is what he said: “Hi Franklin! It is way hotter here than Raleigh. The pool is warm. Love Aedan.” When I asked Aedan to tell Franklin one fun thing we did, he just shrugged. When I asked him how he was feeling, he just replied, “Egyptians don’t like Americans” (parroting a certain family friend who reflected his concern for us most inappropriately in front of the kids). When I pointed out several people in particular that had been nice to us, he replied that they carried guns so that they could shoot us. Oh goodness…how to explain a militaristic state to a 5 year old???

Anyway, an hour and 50zillion versions of “let’s keep an open mind” and “we are the world” later, we head out in the heat….It takes HOURS it seems to get out of the house. Most of the problem is the money. Egypt is a “cash economy” and everyone keeps their money in the proverbial sock drawer. Hardly anyone takes plastic. This is a big change for us but a welcome one when I saw the pile of US receipts I have yet to enter into Quicken. The problem with cash, however, is keeping track of it…especially when you can’t read the numbers too well. Even though Egypt is a safe country, I never think it a good idea to flash cash and even 20LE (about $4US) is a lot of money to most Egyptians…so the question is, how many pockets can you utilize and remember how much money is in each. For example, a taxi wants 5LE, right front pocket, museum is 100LE, Ashley’s purse second pocket, etc etc. Needless to say, the kids put on their shoes and stand there with eyerolls wondering when their parents will get it together. Virginia has decided to use the “downtime” to pack and repack her bunnies in the Barbie backpack that her cousin Kirra gave her. She doesn’t want to leave them behind “when we move to our new home”. I wanted to tell her that we were home but couldn’t quite do it as we are still lobbying the university for an apt slightly closer to Aedan’s school and Joe’s busstop. There is little chance of a move but the chance is still there. So we drag the bunnies everywhere. At least it isn’t her ratty blanket “bebo” although she still asks about it all the time when we are out of the house (where is bebo? Will we get bebo when we get back? Is Steinem sleeping on Bebo Etc etc)….

I managed to break Aedan’s anti-Egypt funk by insisting that he call the cab for us. It is really fun to hail a cab in Cairo. You just walk to the street and yell “TAX (insert the name of where you are going here)” So Aedan yelled “TAX-Egyptian Museum”. One appeared right away out of nowhere (wizard magic). Another funny thing about Egyptian taxis…you tell them what you want the fare to be. If you are in the ballpark, they may haggle with you and then take you. If you are too low, they will just zoom off without a word. Trying to get them to reveal the true price is impossible. The upside is that you can get a really good fare if you know what you are doing. The downside, we don’t know what we are doing. Luckily, my mom friend-Maria gave me some ideas on basic prices so we wouldn’t get horrifically ripped-off.

We head into what Joe calls the “rat-trap stinkbomb…can you believe this car is still running” to the famous Egyptian museum. While Joe is waiting in line for the tickets (almost always it is the man that does these sorts of manly buying things), I ask around about a tour guide. We got a great one! An Egyptology graduate from a 4 year university spent almost 2 hours one-on-one with us. The kids adored him. I haven’t learned as much in the books over the course of my lifetime as I learned from him in 2 hours. Lesson learned: A guide is a must. There are almost no signs in the Egypt museum. You wouldn’t want to listen to one of those audio-guides either…there is no air-con and it is too durn hot in there for anything. Still, we bore the heat and saw the most amazing sites. The kids (especially Virginia) loved hearing about the mummification process. We saw the famous sarcophagus (and gold and blue head thingee) from King Tut. We saw all kinds of stuff from Ramses II and Queen Hapshepsut (Virginia insisted on spending equal time discussing the queens…I was so proud of her!). I really can’t describe the experience. It was all really awesome. The preservation is amazing. I mean, the museum is essentially half as nice as the Raleigh Art Museum and still, the artifacts are right there…you can touch them. The Ancient Egyptians were really good at the mummification thing. There were still remnants of ancient organs (Virginia: “ewww” Aedan: “awesome…I want to see them again!”) and a mummy-dog that looked almost lifelike. Aedan loved reading the hieroglyphics which are pretty easy to understand with a primer. Then Virginia had to go to the bathroom. This was a dreaded moment for us because there really are no such things as public restrooms in Cairo. There was something in the museum but we paid dearly for it…about $1 for someone to show us to it who then followed us around the museum until our guide Naref told him off in Arabic. It was embarrassing and I am going to insist she go before we leave the house from now on. Anyway, bathroom aside, the museum was really really neat. This is a must do for those of you coming to visit!

When we could stand the heat no more, we bid Naref goodbye and went to hail a taxi home. Joe and I were carrying both kids by this time so there was no running up and yelling “TAX”. Some guy tried to charge us 50LE to get to the nearest Starbucks-halfway home and twice as much as we paid for the entire trip up to the museum. I was proud of us that we walked away. I mean, it was only $5 too much but still, he was trying to rip me off and I told him so. After I had my say, he looked pityingly at Joe who just smiled (with pride, I would like to think…ha ha). Uppidy woman!

It wasn’t long (like less than a minute) before I found another taxi that agreed to our reasonable price. He dropped us off right at the oasis (Starbucks)! Unfortunately, the Starbucks will open tomorrow (“God Willing”). I wanted to tell him that if God was a merciful God, then He was definitely willing since I hadn’t had a proper chai latte in 5 days! I didn’t do this….one uppidy remark per day is my limit and never anything having to do with religion J

We did find another café and happily munched on some paninis, brownies, and lesser-chai. Then, like a beacon in the darkness, we found a supermarket! A real one! With real stuff in it! With prices listed on the items! All in one shop! We got some much-needed supplies there and I feel confident that our family will have something to eat in the coming week. What a relief!

We returned home by a third taxi. All in all, our day cost us $63 (not including groceries but including dinner). Not bad for a big day out for a family of 4. Still, we worried that we should maybe put together a budget since we have so much “easy” cash and a lot of time to spend it in. The great news is that the university actually gave us some “settling in money” to buy things like a washer/dryer, TV, iron, toaster, etc. We figure that we already have a washer and if we don’t buy anything else, we can definitely travel on the cheap a bit before school starts. We are still considering a TV. I don’t know. We think that our Wii will be popular enough that we could find someone who would have a TV and want to play with us. We do have our video screens so we can technically play Wii…It is just an adjustment to play Guitar Hero on a 5 inch screen. J What do you think? Invest in a TV or bag it and travel more?

Well that is our day. Tomorrow we hope to see the pyramids at Giza. The kids are itching to see them and we can’t wait (other than the unbearable heat this time of year). If we do go, we’ll be sure to post a few pics. Oh and one final random remark…..quite a few Egyptians has mistaken Joe for a Spaniard (like from Spain) and have tried to engage him in Spanish. I am not sure what he makes of the rest of us (probably doesn’t notice us) but this provides us all with a good laugh. Ole!

Love,

Ashley

Day 2

Hi all-

Another big day in Cairo. The kids and I woke up at 11am (but getting better about the jetlag). I think Joe is mostly over the jetlag. He managed to get up at 8:30 and call to cancel the repairman. Wouldn’t you know that something else broke virtually the minute he hung up…oh well.

So the 2 well-intentioned parents drug their kids away from their “bunny castle” and “very important video games” to go exploring the neighborhood. It was around 12noon when we got out. It wasn’t a full block and Virginia was begging (whining) to go home. We were so irritated. I mean, here we are in Egypt and we are sitting in an apartment???? Aedan knew better than to whine but I could tell that Joe and I were the only ones on the same page about the exploring. Of course, we were going the completely wrong way. I have no idea why we can’t find ANYTHING here. I think I mentioned no street signs and you can’t exactly ask just anyone for directions for the language barrier. We ended up almost inside an Islamic School which was kind of neat. It was set up really different than an American school…all one big room. Maybe they were having an assembly or something.

Anyway, Jenine (the provost’s wife from yesterday’s post) came by and we walked to the “shopping district” of Road 9. It is only about a 10-15 minute walk from our apt and a nice walk at that. I was hoping to do more shopping. I was literally faint with hunger. I mean, we have rice here but I am too hot to cook it. We needed food.

I can’t really describe Road 9. Those of you familiar with DC might liken it to 8^th St or H Street (before gentrification). Parts of it were like Eastern Market. There are some vendors selling fruit and others selling vegetables (few sell both and all get miffed if you show up with a bag from another vendor so you have to kind of hide other purchases and they pretend not to see). There is an open-air rotisserie for chicken and lots of little food stands. There are antiques and wood carvers. It’s a little dirty though and pretty chaotic. I was surprised since this is supposedly the American Market. I mean, I didn’t see any other Americans there and there was nothing American about this market. Janine seemed to think it quiet and quaint. At least I think that is what she said over the roar of the outdoor subway and people screaming pleasantries at each other in Arabic. There was a little of everything there though…reminded me a bit of the beginning of Aladdin when the vendor has a table of kitchen items, then snake stuff, then finally lamps….I have no idea how they cram so much stuff into those shops. Peanuts tumbling after spices, followed by an odd iron and then hand crafted earrings. It was kind of cool though and I am excited to go back when I can poke around a bit. The only trouble is that I am not willing to take the kids unless I know where I am going and I don’t want to go alone. Since Joe and I don’t yet have anyone to watch the kids I have no idea when we are going to go and without going, I have no idea where I am going to get stuff, like toilet paper (such as it is) or toothpaste, etc. I guess we are going to either deal with the corner store (nice but pricey) or hire a car for the day to take us to Carrefour (the French Wal-Mart if you can believe it!). Still, I remember being overwhelmed early days in DC. I say to myself that it is so much different with the kids because Joe and I could literally live off almost nothing. Still, this is the next challenge for me….get to know Egyptian culture and Arabic well enough to feel comfortable in the “American shops”….something to aspire to in the next month or so.

Joe and I also realized that we do need a nanny/housekeeper or at least someone who can come a few days a week. As many of you know, we go back and forth on this. On the one hand, it is oppressive and just plain wrong that by accident of birth, I am able to hire a “servant”. I mean, a well-paid servant earns about $400 a year for full-time work. It doesn’t seem fair. On the other hand, we need help and they need money. The food packaging looks totally different here and there is almost no English. I have no idea what we are buying most of the time. Right now, we are living off airplane peanuts and goods supplied by the university but God forbid we actually need something. We want to try to get to know Egyptian culture but have no idea how to do so because we get lost right outside our front door. Babysitting is not even a concept here so it is unlikely that Joe and I will get time to go to his university functions without help. Bottom line: everyone has help. I am just not sure we are “everyone”.

I returned home heavy with heat exhaustion and a kilo of apples (sounds like a lot but it is about 5 apples) and cookies for the kids. I thanked Jenine profusely for her help. I mean, I never would have found Road 9 without her. She treated me to a few essentials that we need such as bug spray and a lesson about what to do when the power goes out. I thought about how nice she was and how lucky I was that she was so generous with her time.

I returned home to a message that my friend from yesterday (Maria) called inviting us to Maadi Club for dinner. We had planned an after-dinner cruise on the Nile (followed by a serious look for Starbucks) but thought this a better offer. I think I may have told you that Cairo has almost no public green space….like actually nowhere for the kids to play. I mean, no front yards, no concrete alleyways, nothing. At least in NY and DC there are rooftop decks, etc. Here…nothing except CAC and the Maadi Club. As Maria’s guests, we were allowed a look-see (6 hours worth). Maadi Club is much smaller than CAC but has a nice, clean, large playground and a decent pool. Depth was still 3 ½ feet but kids were allowed floatation devices, toys, and there were chairs for relaxing there. The kids swam for 2 hours and Aedan and their 6 year old became the best little buddies. It was really sweet since I still think of Aedan as having difficulty making friends. Anyway, we all had dinner at the Club. It was like the Denver Country Club in this way with good service and quickie grilled food outside (with a more diverse menu inside). Virginia asked for a hot dog which they actually had (pork and everything) and Aedan got some macaroni and cheese. I treated myself to a burger with cheese…the most protein I could eat in one sitting…my meals of pasta and cornflakes leaving me that carbohydrate empty-full feeling for too long. Joe had two beers with David, Maria’s husband. The kids ran around with all the other foreign nationals until the sun went down. It was a great night. Joe really wants to join the club. It is pricey but they do offer a temporary membership and I am thinking we will join. I am a tiny bit hesitant though. I know from my study abroad experience how easy it is to fall into the “keep life as it was in America” trap and never get outside your comfort zone. I am afraid I might be tempted to just walk and stay there all day rather than make myself learn Arabic and interact with real Egyptians. On the flip side, this is a big change for us and I realized today that I hadn’t seen the kids truly happy since we left the US. It was just so relaxing to be there. I wasn’t worried about the kids getting run over by a car or about the water they were drinking or about anything. I was relaxing with new friends and laughing about crazy things that happened in our days. Through this prism, I was able to laugh at my own insecurities and formulate a plan to start tomorrow anew. How much is this worth to me? How much do I push through to make myself soak up all that I can about Egypt?

Anyway, I’ll choose to take it for what it was…a great evening. Tomorrow we will start again. Perhaps we will find our way to some sort of market tomorrow and perhaps we will get lost again. Maybe we will make it to the Nile…surely we can find that J I guess I’ll just have to soak it in….this is why we arrived early.

Lots of love….

Ashley

We're here...Initial Impression...Majestic

Majestic

Hi there-

The Simons-Rudolphs have arrived in Cairo. We have so many things to tell you about so grab a cup of coffee and read at your leisure. It is hard for me to imagine that anyone really wants to know any/all of this but I figure that I am going to write this down for the kids anyway and I might as well share my thoughts if anyone has the time or cares to read it. That said, don’t feel obligated to read it and I won’t feel obligated to keep it short. J Since so much has happened, I will break it down into segments:

Plane Ride

My last post was from Washington Dulles…basically the last moment in that trip that we didn’t all have cabin fever. Actually the travel was rather easy overall. Mom’s presents for the kids helped. Steinem didn’t meow much. The kids slept almost all of the 7 hour flight to Germany. I gave Aedan a full dose of Benadryl and practically had to force his eyes open in Cairo (more on that later). Like mother, like son, I guess. Joe tells me that Virginia was pretty bouncy and mostly flirted with the guy beside her who had the misfortune of offering her some candy from his very large bag of M&Ms. He got little rest until she fell asleep and will likely never be generous again J. Layover in Germany was quick. Despite our best efforts to make a cat pee (our version of “lead a horse to water”), Steinem had an accident and we spent most of Germany trying to clean her up as best as we could. Flight to Cairo from Germany was only 3 ½ hours. Those of you counting will note a much shorter flight than I complained about…45 min to Dulles, 7 hrs to Frankfurt, 3 ½ hrs to Cairo. Like 11 all told….Really hardly more flight time than to most parts of Europe. I was a little confused by the time change I guess but I wasn’t complaining about the shorter flight. Anyway, the flight to Cairo was fast but by then, the Benadryl had worn off me at least and I was READY to get there. Aedan woke up long enough to request a video game from the airline attendant (and they had one which was really cool!). Virginia was drowsy but it was my turn to wrestle the beast so I held her in what was an awkward position for fear of waking her. I seriously couldn’t wait to land.

Arrival in Egypt

Egyptian landscape is beautiful. I can’t believe how much it looks like it does on a globe. I mean, I don’t think the US looks much like it does on the globe but Egypt sure does. Beautiful dark blue water with few waves….then dense forests, like a wetland, then suddenly, NOTHING. Just sand. It was like another planet or something. It was so brown. About 10 minutes from landing we saw the pyramids. You know how you can build something up in you mind and be disappointed when you actually see it? Well, the pyramids are NOT like that. I seriously, no joke, cried when I first saw them. Joe too. They are completely and utterly majestic. And there are so many of them and they are all different. Virginia just gaped…then pointed out the mommy, daddy, and baby pyramids to the Egyptian guy sitting across from us. Aedan, the one of us who has studied and dreamed of nothing but pyramids since December slept. I mean, we tried everything but couldn’t rouse him. Oh well. He’ll get his fill eventually.

As we were told, we were met by a representative from Joe’s school (AUC) and shepherded through security. The Cairo airport is really noisy and pretty clean by Africa standards. Still, I didn’t want to hang out there and it seemed to take a long time. Just when I started wondering if we were supposed to flash some cash, we were led out. Apparently, someone at AUC thought that Joe was travelling alone so they only sent one car (Peugeot) and our luggage was brought in a second car. Having travelled a bit, I advised Joe to take out our more valuable things to keep with us and so Joe chose the Wii (I guess I didn’t specify monetarily valuable since our cash, my computer, and all of our passports and important files were in a different bag).

So, onto our apartment we crawled through the infamous Cairo traffic. The children were lulled to sleep by the infamous Cairo honking. I don’t really get the honking. It isn’t like Boston where honking means “up yours” and a lot of people seem to need proctologists….Instead, it seems to mean “hello”, or “I’m entering the intersection”, or “no, you go first”. It is almost friendly but not quite totally friendly all the time. We’ll have to get used to it. Someone told me that Egypt passed a law against honking but no one seems to have gotten the message. Going through Cairo was an experience for Joe who simultaneously tried not to gape at the more “developing” part of this developing country and count the 3 months salary advance that employees are given (in cash) upon arrival. I don’t know how he did it. All numbers were in Arabic with only tiny numerals on the bottom! We have been told over and over again that Egyptians are incredibly honest. Our cab driver (an AUC employee) was no exception. It was all there.

We were met in our apt by a third AUC employee who greeted us with fresh flowers and showed us around….

Our Apartment

I had heard that Egyptian style was a bit showy by US standards and this was reflected in my initial impression of the apartment. It is big. We have two full-sized couches, 1 love seat, 4 of those big squashy chairs and two coffee tables (1 marble and one wood and glass). The flooring is all in blonde hardwoods except the kitchens and bath which are in ceramic tile. Our apt is 3 bedroom, two and half bath. Initially, I was dismayed. I was told that we would likely get a 4-5 bedroom place and another several bedrooms could easily fit in our palatial living room. However, I soon found out why. We live in a desirable neighborhood. Here is the story as I understand it….AUC is moving from the “old campus” (downtown Cairo) to the “new campus” just outside Cairo. Long-time staff are moving from Zamalek to the closest neighborhood to the new campus (Rahad…not sure of spelling) to minimize the heinous commute. However, Rahad does not have good schools for kids. Maadi is the second closest neighborhood to the new campus and has the best schools. So, many more “old timers” want to move to Maadi and they get dibs. I really advocated for Maadi and I think they knew how much we wanted to live here. Technically, we live in Digla which is like the Apex to Cary if you know NC suburbs. However, I live less than a block from the line with Maadi so for all intents and purposes, we live in Maadi. Yet, I think we have to compromise on the extra bedrooms and I think this is a tradeoff we are willing to make although we are still trying to negotiate a bit.

As I said, the apartment is HUGE. Joe thinks it is about 1500 square ft. It is almost as much space as our Raleigh house. It has a lot of neat things about it too. We have a small ceramic-tiled deck off the living room area and another one off the master bedroom. All three bedrooms have HUGE armoires to store clothes, etc. We have a large kitchen with marble tops and an eat-in table. We have a dining room with famous gawdy gold light fixtures J Beds are big. I think all 3 are queen sized. Aedan and Virginia have decided to sleep in one room. Anyway, there is plenty of room for guests so get your tickets now. J We have a washing machine (no dryer) but this is great since we had been told that we would have to buy both. I did a load today to see if I can get along without a dryer. I’d love to blow the money on travel instead.

Oh and did I mention that yes, you can actually see a pyramid from our deck? I am not kidding. It isn’t a straight-on shot and you have to stand on a stool to see over a building but really and truly, you can see what I was told was the “stair-step pyramid” (formal name later) from our decks.

So, that’s our place. AUC was kind enough to stock it with “a few things for emergencies”. My cousin Lynne would note that for us, it is fully-stocked. Since we hardly eat at home, we hardly have food in the house. Anyway, it was so nice that we had eggs, bread, milk, juice, chicken, pasta, rice, etc for these first couple of days. Of course, all of the writing was in Arabic. We have figured out all but one item. It is kind of like an adventure to see who can come up with the wildest guess. In actuality, I think it is either ammonia or silver polish. I realize these things look completely different but you’d just have to see and smell it to believe J

So, after unpacking (which those of you who have ever lived with me know I had to do immediately), and a tiny bit of walking around, we fell into bed. A bit punchy and completely lost, we noticed that we live right behind an unnamed traffic circle distinguishable only by the patch of shops known as “Mohamed Said” (pronounced “Sa-EEED”). In Arabic, this means “Mohamed is good” (at least, I think this is what it means) but again, being punchy Joe and I thought it funny to look at “Mohamed said flowers” and “Mohamed said news”, “Mohamed said groceries” etc etc Thankfully for the sake of international relations, we soon fell into bed.

Day 1

Our first full day in Cairo was definitely a lifetime highlight. I woke up to 2 kids with a terrific case of cabin fever. They couldn’t run around the apartment fast enough. Joe thought we should wait for the woman who is supposed to orient us to call. We waited until early afternoon when Joe found some information that she was, in fact, on vacation until the beginning of September. The kids and I couldn’t stand it anymore and despite Joe’s objection, he called the university to see if anyone could at least tell us our address so that we could tell a cab driver where to take us home. You see, there are hardly any road signs in Cairo. Everyone operates by landmark and apartments are known by the previous occupant. I’m just not convinced that any old cab driver will know where to take us home if we wander, say, more than a block away. As luck would have it, the outgoing provost lives in our building and his wife Janine, graciously offered to come over and orient us. She spent a good bit of time with us and even walked us around showing us markets where we could expect reasonable prices, a hair cut place, and most importantly, Aedan’s school.

Aedan’s school, Cairo American College (CAC-not to be confused with Joe’s AUC) is huge and awesome. The only thing I can think to compare it to is maybe Cary Academy only huger and more awesome. It is bigger than Ravenscroft for sure. Pretty much, CAC functions as the community center of expat Cairo. They open their pool, grassy fields, workout rooms, studios, playgrounds, etc for family use when school is not in session (all the time now). I just can’t fathom how they keep their grounds so nice when it is so open. I mean, they even have filtered water for refilling your bottles at the playground. I’m totally impressed. Janine took us all over and showed Aedan the kindergarten rooms (about 5 classes per year). They had some sort of summer camp going on so we couldn’t go in but it looked nice. Apparently CAC also has its own bank and travel agency but I didn’t see those. All of this is less than a 10 minute walk from us (probably less once we actually know where we are going). Aedan and I went to the pool today. There are a lot of rules there that we didn’t have in the US so it is an adjustment. For one thing, the pool is serious-business. Not a lot of kids lollygagging the day away. Kids are lapswimming by choice. The swim team (year round-part of the school) workout for 1^st graders includes a 400M warmup…that is 16 laps! No swim floaties allowed and the “training pool” (shallow end) is 3 ½ feet -almost over Aedan’s head. Those swim lessons were a great investment for Aedan and I wish I had insisted on more now. At least he won’t drown on his first day of school but I might spy on him the second and third day….Yikes!

After swimming we went to one of the playgrounds and met some new friends. Maria, is a lawyer cum stay-at-home mom, from Lexington NC (home of great barbecue) and has two kids…one boy year older than Aedan and very into Power Rangers (Aedan in heaven) and another boy Virginia’s age. She was really nice and I think we could be great friends. When we couldn’t find a pencil to exchange telephone numbers she created a tablet from a leaf and stick. I mean, how cool is that? Talk about can-do. Having only been here a year herself, she was in the perfect position to give me the 411 on life in Cairo without too much overwhelming detail. We had a great time together and our kids really got along well. Her husband does some sort of work with refugees and they are here at least another year.

Having run the kids, we came home to make a pasta dinner (well, we thought we would have spaghetti but we misread some labels and ended up instead with something more akin to “pasta dinner”) and bed. Tomorrow I go to Road 9 with Janine. Supposedly it is where all of the shopping is done in Maadi. Of course, there are small corner stores and fruit stands on almost every block (it is like DC that way) but walking around with Janine means that she can introduce me to her people in the hole-in-the-wall places where she and I both like to shop. I am so excited. It is possible that I will find a Starbucks this week but it is unlikely that it will be convenient enough to justify my daily existence. However, change is good (and a small stash is coming in our boxes).

Enough for now. I can’t believe that anyone is still reading this.

More when we can get on internet again. For now, we have only very limited access to internet but expect to have our own line in 2 weeks or so. Will have to wait for regular postings, pictures, and vonage then.

Love to all….

-The S-Rs

The Way-ay-ay-ting is the hardest part!

In the Washington-Dulles airport now figuring out some last minute (yep, REALLY last minute) details now. The kids are surviving the day-long wait at Dulles incredibly well. We kind of hope that we haven't used up any good karma we may have accumulated. Cat didn't meow too loud on the first (turbulent) flight. Virginia meowed for her...especially when she got wound up on Lifesavers and hearing the word "turbulent"...who knew that word could be so very hilarious? I don't think the flight attendant thought it was as funny as we did...but whatever. Of course, there was a couple sitting right behind Joe and Aedan who interpreted the turbulence as a good opportunity to get engaged (she said "yes"). I personally think that, given the occasion, he should have splurged for a flight to National Airport but that is just me :)

Many of you have asked how my family is doing with us moving. Let me say that I was proud of them. They kept the tears in check in front of the kids. Mom bought and wrapped a zillion presents for the kids (to open 1 per hour) which is already a saving grace! Dad tried to slip into a carry-on but when he didn't fit, he settled for slipping Joe some cash. He got up uber-early to pass along more advice, quotes from country music songs, and generally be there! David gruffly slapped Joe on the back and followed up with a wrestle :) No, David was really sweet. He gave Virginia a cute pink monkey that she has long admired. "Monkey" (creatively named) has been Virginia's constant companion all day! She is the only 3 year old with a pink monkey wearing red underwear prominently proclaiming "WILD THING!" . Joe's mom has called and emailed several times today which has been a nice distraction for the kids. Joe's grandmother sought advice for us from her bridge friends (who are really really well-traveled) . So you see, everything is normal...just more so.

So, we are good. The S-Rs just might make it to Egypt.

OK gotta run! 2 hours til flight time....

Today's....Airplane Food

Today is the day....
Six months of planning, 1200 lbs of junk "we can't live without", 8 suitcases, 4 carrry ons, and 4 "personal items" and we are off....less than a hour and half from now.

A big shout out goes to Joe (of course) for actually packing while I shook my head in dismay simultaneous at how much stuff we have and how little stuff we really have :)

Also a big thanks to mine and Joe's parents who have hosted and actually put up with us the last few weeks....

Next time from Cairo....
-Ashley et al.